Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"One thousand two hundred taels for the third time! Congratulations to Xu Yang for winning this bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills," Tao Hujin announced helplessly.

After all the commotion, the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills, which could have fetched over 1,300 taels, ended up selling for only 1,200.

"Is anyone willing to help Xu Yang pay?" Wu Nanshan said with a laugh.

The entire auction hall fell silent. Shen Liang made to stand, but An Ping pulled him back down.

Xu Yang cupped his fists and smiled. "Thank you all for yielding. As it happens, I have exactly one thousand two hundred taels on me."

With that, he stood up and walked to the back room to pay.

Wu Nanshan instantly felt as horrible as if he’d eaten shit, the laughter caught in his throat, unable to escape.

Lu Ren’s expression was sullen and his cheeks burned. ’So Xu Yang really *is* rich.’

’He got off easy,’ An Ping thought.

The Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill’s effects were slightly better than the Guiyuan Pill. If the bidding had continued, it would have cost at least 1,400 taels to win.

Shen Liang sighed. He knew that he and Xu Yang were now strangers. The bond forged from facing life and death together in the valley was over. There was no way Xu Yang hadn’t noticed what he and An Ping had done.

Although he had wanted to help, he had hesitated the moment An Ping pulled on him, unwilling to offend An Ping for Xu Yang’s sake.

"Congratulations, Master Xu."

In the back room, Zhou Yong handed the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills to Xu Yang with a wide grin. Getting five Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills for 1,200 taels was an absolute steal.

This auction was held specifically for the Purple Sun Sect’s upcoming Outer Disciple competition, so the bidding was expected to be fiercer than usual. Who would have thought that those Outer Disciples from the Purple Sun Sect, wanting to see Xu Yang make a fool of himself, would instead hand him such a bargain.

After paying, Xu Yang asked, "Are there any Pill Formulas up for auction?"

If not, he planned to leave.

With five Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills in his possession, he had no idea how many people would soon be targeting him.

Many people hadn’t bid at all from start to finish. They were likely planning to rob and kill for the prize.

Zhou Yong nodded. "Yes, there is. The Gathering Essence Pill, which is a Gang Qi Realm elixir."

’They really have one, and a Gang Qi Realm elixir at that.’

Xu Yang was delighted. "Roughly how much will it take to win it?" he asked.

’I have 4,000 taels on me. I spent 1,200 on the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills, so now I only have 2,800 left. That might not be enough.’

Zhou Yong shook his head. "I’m not sure. To a Pill Master who needs it, a Pill Formula is priceless. To an ordinary person, it’s too hard to even wipe your ass with."

Xu Yang nodded thoughtfully. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’Unless it’s a particularly special Pill Formula, most of them aren’t as valuable as I imagined.’

’For example, no one even bid on the Blood Coagulation Pill last time, but to me, it would’ve been worth spending a lot more to get it.’

’The Gathering Essence Pill is a Gang Qi Realm elixir, to be sure, but there are many kinds of Gang Qi Realm elixirs.’

’The Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pill, the Guiyuan Pill, the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill...’

’Once you learn how to make one of these elixirs, there’s no point wasting a ton of herbs to learn another. A single type of Vigorous Qi Elixir is enough to support an entire faction. What you should learn are irreplaceable elixirs, not just another one with similar effects.’

’So, unless I’m unlucky enough to run into another Pill Master who’s just like me and lacks a Gang Qi Realm Pill Formula, I still have a good chance of getting this Gathering Essence Pill formula.’

Returning to the auction hall and seeing that Xu Yang had really won a bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills for just 1,200 taels, many people were kicking themselves with regret.

After all, none of the subsequent bottles of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills sold for less than 1,500 taels.

Wu Nanshan and Liu Xiao, who had been the most disruptive and thereby indirectly helped Xu Yang, wore incomparably ugly expressions.

They had gone all-in with their bid. If anyone had just added another ten taels, Xu Yang would have missed out. Who could have imagined their "help" would let Xu Yang snag such a bargain?

"Brother An, did you all manage to get any Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills?"

Seeing An Ping’s ashen face, Xu Yang sat down and asked with a smile.

An Ping didn’t want to speak. He knew Xu Yang was just showing off.

’I really can’t figure it out. Even rich young masters like us find it difficult to produce over a thousand taels of silver at once; we have to pool our money just to dare make a bid. How does Xu Yang have so much money?’

Shen Liang gave a bitter smile. "We got one. It cost us one thousand five hundred and fifty taels."

Hearing that they had spent three hundred and fifty taels more than him, Xu Yang felt as refreshed as if a cool breeze had blown on a hot summer day. He nodded in satisfaction.

At that moment, Tao Hujin pulled the red cloth off the tray. Everyone craned their necks to see, only to find a piece of animal hide lying there.

"Next up for auction is the Pill Formula for the Gathering Essence Pill! I’m sure everyone here has heard of the famous Gathering Essence Pill. While its effects aren’t quite as good as elixirs like the Guiyuan Pill or the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill, it’s not far off.

All of you have shouted yourselves hoarse fighting over a single bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills. We are Martial Artists; it is better to rely on oneself than on others! If you refine your own elixirs, not only can you use them yourself, you can also sell them for a profit.

With a production cost of twenty to thirty taels, you can turn around and sell it for a hundred. It’s a business with massive profits!

The auction starts now! The opening bid is one thousand taels, and each raise must be no less than fifty taels."

Despite Tao Hujin’s passionate speech, no one made a bid.

No one in the audience was a fool. If they could refine elixirs with just a Pill Formula, they wouldn’t need to be here.

Other than Pill Masters, no one would buy a Pill Formula. The Pill Masters cultivated by the great families generally didn’t lack for Gang Qi Realm formulas; what they lacked was the skill to actually refine the pills.

"One thousand taels!" Xu Yang said softly.

’The Zhu Family would pay any price to prevent their Pill Formulas from leaking. That’s because formulas are actually useful to someone like me. If I learn their secrets, I could become their competitor.’

’But here, at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, to everyone else it’s just something too hard to wipe their asses with. They probably wish this whole segment of the auction didn’t even exist.’

SWISH!

In an instant, everyone was staring at Xu Yang in shock once again. He had actually made another bid—and for a useless Pill Formula, no less.